Steve Slater on Formula One: The end of an era

I truly cannot believe that we are at the end of the 2013 season already. However before you tune in for this weekend’s season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix, I want you to apologize to your neighbors in advance. Then, despite the late hour of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, I suggest that you turn up your TV volume LOUD as the five red lights illuminate at the start of the final race of the 2013 season. You will never hear this sound again.

This is the last time ever that we’ll hear a full starting grid of the current V8 engines shrieking their way to their 18,000 rpm rev limit. Next season, the Formula One teams make a mandatory switch to new, more eco-friendly, turbocharged six-cylinder engines.

The sport’s regulators will tell you next season’s power unit is more in keeping both with global environmental concerns and the engines that we, as regular motorists, use in our road vehicles. However the gruff bark of the new V6 engines will give a very different sound track.

When the 2.4 litre eight-cylinder first appeared it was even more shrill than today. When in 2006, Formula One made the switch from 3.0 litre V10 engines, which were giving nearly 900 horsepower, in an effort to match the bigger ten-cylinder motors, engine designers pushed the revs of the new smaller capacity V8s to the limit.

Renault, who gave Fernando Alonso back-to-back world titles in both eras of engine design, ran their new engine to over 19,000 rpm. They were outrevved though by Cosworth, whose CA engine screamed to a stupendous 20,000 rpm.

Amazingly that same Cosworth CA V8 is still in service. Brazil will mark their final appearance in the back of the Marussia cars at the tail of the field. Today though, the engines are restricted by the regulations to a ‘mere’ 18,000 rpm following rule changes which have progressively reduced maximum revs and in recent years frozen engine specifications.

The V8s have delivered unprecedented performance and reliability. A few years ago, BMW made a big thing of their M-Sport road engines delivering 100bhp per litre. A quick bit of maths with the current 2.4 liter delivering well over 800bhp at 18,000 rpm, shows the engines developing nearly 350bhp
per liter. They are without doubt, among the most efficient normally aspirated engines ever created.

The new V6 engines will rev to a comparatively pedestrian (in Formula One terms) 15,000rpm. However it should be noted, this remains more than double the revs at which a most road car engines would blow itself to bits. Even without an estimated 120 horsepower boost from a more powerful hybrid-style energy recovery system, the turbocharged 1.6 litre V6s will initially develop around 600 bhp, equating to an impressive 375 bhp per liter.

Last weekend saw Sebastian Vettel score his eighth win in succession to beat Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record, so unsurprisingly, there are few who will bet against Vettel entering the record books again. The German’s victory in the USA was his twelfth of the season, which now gives him the chance of equaling Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a year, again scored back in 2004.

However it could also be the end of an era for the man who was the architect of Schumacher’s record-breaking run. Ross Brawn was the brains behind Schumacher and Ferrari’s success, before switching to the beleaguered Honda team; restructuring it under his own name to win the 2009 world championship, then remaining as the team’s head following its sale to Mercedes.

The Brazilian Grand Prix though, may be the last for Brawn as Mercedes team principal. No announcement has yet been made, but many believe the hiring by the team’s parent company of former world champion Niki Lauda as chairman, former Williams CEO Toto Wolff as executive director and Paddy Lowe from McLaren as technical director, is pointing to the Brawn era drawing to a close.

Meanwhile there could be an even more seismic change. In past weeks Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has been appearing in the High Court in London, accused of selling Formula One’s business interests to asset management giant CVC at an unduly low price. The 83 year-old also faces hearings in the New Year in Germany.

Ecclestone, it should be said, denies all charges. However while giving evidence this week CVC co-founder Donald Mackenzie told the court that his company would have no hesitation in firing Ecclestone if found guilty.

Were that to happen, one wonders what might happen to Formula One without the legendary deal-maker at the helm. Certainly, after 40 years spent raising Grand Prix motor racing from a sideline activity to a global sport, were Ecclestone to go, that truly would mark the end of an era.